A Promise is made
Genesis 12:1-4
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’[a]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Through the Old Testament we see God at work bringing the pieces together that will lead to the redemption of the world. And in this passage, we see one of those pieces established, the calling of Abram. Later his name was changed to Abraham.
Yes, Abram had financial resources – but he was missing something that he desired more than money, he had no offspring. He and Sarai (his wife) were childless. The promise in vs. 2 is not only that Abram would be a blessing, which is no small thing, but Abram will also be the father of “a great nation.” Abram would have descendants, his deepest longing answered.
Notice the sweep of the promise, it is not just that Abram’s descendants will be blessed, not just those who can draw a bloodline back to Abram who will be blessed. But “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Through Abram the Israelites become a nation. But Israel is but one nation, Israel is not all the families of the earth. As we move through a number of the Old Testament readings for this Advent we will see this theme of a blessing which reaches beyond Israel being repeated. How does this blessing of Abram become a blessing for all the families of the earth?
In Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abram – for Jesus was a Jew (an Israelite). As the church in the book of Acts came to realize Jesus had come not just to bring redemption to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. In Jesus, the redemption of the world has been realized, for Jesus has come for all the families (all the peoples) of the earth.
Abram believed the promise that God had made, and at age 75 he and his household began an adventure trusting that God would keep God’s promise to bless all the nations of the world through Abraham.
PRAYER:
O Lord God, we rejoice in the promise you made to Abraham. Through his descendant, Jesus, you have blessed us and all the nations of the earth, we thank you for this great gift. This Advent we are filled with joy that you have kept your promise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.